Striking the Target | A Season of Prayer and Intercession Week 4 | Pastor Andrew Cromwell
October 2, 2022 / Andrew Cromwell / Koinonia ChurchStriking the Target
Week 4 | A Season of Prayer and Intercession
I look at a stone-cutter hammering away at a rock a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the 101st blow it splits in two. I know it was not the one blow that did it, but all that had gone before. —Jacob Riis
Luke 5:4-7 NIV: 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
Three Examples of Prevailing Prayer
- Elijah
James 5:18 ESV: Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
2. Jesus
Mark 14:39 ESV: And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.
Mark 8:25 ESV: Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
3. Joshua
Joshua 8:18 NIV: Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Point the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the town over to you.” Joshua did as he was commanded.
Intercession is more than an occasional heartwarming, emotional love to God, more than expressions of good will on our knees when we think of the sick and the suffering among our friends. Prayer is more than a cry of earnest desire when suddenly faced with a crisis of need. Prevailing prayer is holy work, fervent labor. —Wesley L. Deuwel
Three Elements of Intercessory Prayer that Prevails
- A to address
Ezekiel 22:30 NIV: I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land
2. A to stand upon
1 John 5:14 NIV: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
3. A spiritual opposition
Acts 12:5 NKJV: Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.
2 Kings 15:13-19 ESV: 15 And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows.” So he took a bow and arrows. 16 Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow,” and he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. 17 And he said, “Open the window eastward,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. And he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them.” 18 And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped. 19 Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.”
The Difference Maker: Intercessory Prayer
- Intercessory prayer releases power for spiritual breakthrough.
Mark 9:29 ESV: And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
2. Intercessory prayer releases divine revelation.
Jeremiah 33:3 NIV: Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
3. Intercessory prayer releases supernatural blessing.
Matthew 7:9-11 NIV: “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
4. Intercessory prayer releases the ministry of angelic hosts.
Hebrews 1:14 NLT: Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.
1 Timothy 1:18 NIV: Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well…